Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Hosts Ohio State, Cincinnati
12/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
December 30, 2000
Indiana Hosts Ohio State, Cincinnati
Meet Data
The Indiana Springboard Dive-off is a three day event featuring Indiana, Ohio State, and Cincinnati. The dive-off runs all day January 5-7. January 6, Indiana hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats in a dual meet. Swimming begins at 4:00. Both events are in the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Inside the Indiana Springboard Dive-off
The Hoosiers first faced Cincinnati this season at the Indiana Invite, at which every Cincinnati diver was defeated by at least one Hoosier. Ohio State is a particularily young team with no seniors and only one junior in HollyUnderwood. Erin Quinn and Sara Reiling will lead the Hoosiers while Cassie Kellerman will lead the Bearcats. Underwood and Natalia Diea are the top divers from Ohio State.
Inside the Cincinnati Meet
The January 6th meeting between the Hoosiers and the Bearcats will be the third time this season the schools will meet. Indiana defeated Cincinnati at both the Indiana Invite and the Miami Invitational.
Head Swimming Coach Dorsey Tierney
Dorsey Tierney begins her third year as head coach of the Indiana women's swim team. She is a gold medallist in 200-meter breaststroke in the 1987 Pan-American games and was a captain on the 1991 team. Tierney was also a finalist in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials.
Head Diving Coach Dr. Jeff Huber
Head Coach Dr. Jeff Huber returns as a six-time Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year and two time U.S. National Diving Coach of the Year. He coached Indiana diver Sara Reiling to a 13th place finish in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Quoting Huber
"The dive-off will be a small but high quality competition. Our training over the holiday break will change to more dive repetition and less skill and drill type of work. So, for the dive-off I am hoping to see better meet performances from the divers."
Tell Us What You Really Think
The Indiana women's swimming and diving team was ranked 22nd in the country by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, on December 14. Big Ten rival Northwestern is ranked 20th and in-state foe Notre Dame is ranked 16th. Indiana won the Indiana Invite over Notre Dame and beat Northwestern for its second Big Ten victory.
Big Ten Honors for Cristy
Six first place finishes and two runner-up finishes led to Indiana senior Jenn Cristy's naming of co-Big Ten Swimmer of the Week. Cristy won the 100 and 200 free, anchored the winning 200 and 400 free relays, and swam the free legs on the victorious 200 and 400 medley relays at the Indiana Invite November 17-19. She set season bests in the 50, 100, and 200 free, in 23.63, 50.88, and 1:51.43, respectively.
Cristy posted the fastest preliminary time in the 50 free and finished second in finals. She also took second in the 100 breast, after not having competed in the event since her freshman year.
Miami Invitational
Jenn Cristy led the way at the Miami Invitational Friday. Her first place finish in the 50 free was the first of seven Hoosiers competing in the race. Cristy's time of 23.59 was less than a second ahead of teammate Anne Williams. Williams tied for seventh in 24.44. Meghan Medendorp and Sarah Bowman were the next two finalists coming in at 13th and 15th places, respectively.
This same group combined for a second place finish in the 200 free relay. Their time of 1:35.58 was bettered only by Illinois' 1:34.96. Illinois holds the team standings lead at the end of the first day with 292 points. Indiana is in fourth with 117, behind Miami and Kenyon College.
Susan Woessner was Indiana's gold at the Miami Invitational . She won the 100 back, took eleventh in the 100 fly, and swam the lead leg on the third place 200 medley team. Woessner went into the 100 back finals with the fastest prelim time. She won the event in 56 seconds flat
Megan Geers and Sarah Fiden went home with victories Sunday night at the Miami Invitational. Geers capitalized on her second place-qualifying swim to take the 200 breast victory in 2:22.19. She defeated the top qualifier and second place finisher Suzy Riley of Miami by 1.68 seconds. Fiden swam her second mile race of the season in 16:49.62 for the victory. Her nearest competitor was almost 13 seconds behind.
Indiana maintained its fourth place standing to finish fourth with 331 points for the weekend.
Indiana Invite
The Indiana Invite lived up to its name as the Hoosiers dominated the field in winning with 1,151 points. Jenn Cristy was one of the many highlights on the final day of competition. After a disappointing 50-yard free loss on Friday, Cristy returned with her best 100-yard free performance of the season. Her 100 free in 50.88 was her fifth victory of the weekend. Her sixth came in the 400-yard free relay.
The final event of the first night showcased Indiana's depth as the Hoosiers took first and third place in the 400-Yard medley relay in 3:50.16 and 3:53.09. Led by Susan Woessner, the winning team made a push for the lead in the first leg. Megan Geers dived in for the second leg and extended the lead. Tina Gretlund was next in one of her strongest 100-Yard fly performances, and Jenn Cristy was able to bring the team the victory.
A 1-2 finish in the 200-Yard free relay added to the team effort. The teams finished in 1:34.55 and 1:37.55. The winning team set a season best.
Tina Gretlund put a strong effort into the 200 IM to emerge with a third place finish. Her 2:06.55 was her fastest this season. Sarah Fiden continued to excel in the distance events as she claimed second in the 500-Yard free. Her 4:57.05 was a season best.
The Indiana women's swim team won the 200-yard medley relay, the 100-yard fly, the 200-yard free, the 100-yard back, and the 800-yard free relay to extend their lead in the Indiana Invite going into the final day.
The 800 free relay highlighted the evening with the Hoosiers pulling out the win over Cincinnati. Sarah Fiden, Erin Rice, Jenny Bechem, and Ellie Lallman finished the Hoosiers' first 800 free relay of the season in 7:40.63.
Susan Woessner provided her own show in the 100 back. Fifty yards into the race she trailed the leader by 0.2 seconds. She fought her way back to the front to finish first in 56.19. After losing the 50 free to Evansville's Kim Dodson Friday night, Jenn Cristy was ready to prove she belongs at the finish first. In the 200 free, Cristy took the lead at the halfway point. Her finish in 1:51.43 was good enough for a win and a season best.
Another plan of revenge was brewed by Tina Gretlund in the 100 fly. She had placed third in the 400 IM to Marie Labosky of Notre Dame and Elaine Schwartz of Miami. Gretlund swam next to Schwartz in the 100 fly and won in 56.72. Schwartz finished fifth.
Indiana's 400 free relay won by 3.11 seconds. Anne Williams swam the first leg and built a lead that was never relinquished. With Sarah Fiden swimming second, the lead had grown to 2.06 seconds with 200 yards to go. Gretlund and Cristy dropped the field finishing in 3:30.76.
The Wildcats of Northwestern
The last time Head Coach Dorsey Tierney's brother went head to head with his kid sister, Jimmy Tierney went home with the winning team. Indiana's Tierney made sure that did not happen this time around.
The Hoosiers out swam the Wildcats 168.5-131.5 to take their second conference victory. The team was led by Jenn Cristy's 100 free win in 52.07, Sarah Fiden's 500 free win in 4:59.74 and Tina Gretlund's 200 fly win in 2:03.34. Indiana squads won both relays, the 400 free in 3:30.98 and the 200 medley in 1:45.93. Cristy finished second in the 50 and 200 free races to Northwestern's Maria Reeves and Erin Swenson.
The 500 freestyle again stole the show. Following Fiden was Jenny Bechem finishing second in 5:03.45 and Erin Rice in 5:04.48 for third. Fiden pulled away half way through the race from Northwestern's 1000 winner Erica Rose. Bechem and Rice caught Rose in the last laps.
Indiana divers cleaned up on the boards in collecting first, second, and third places in the 1-meter and 3-meter. Jennifer Sonneborn won both events.
The Wildcats of Kentucky
Indiana women's swimming faced one of its toughest competitors November 3 in the Wildcats of Kentucky. The Hoosiers prevailed 149-94 in a meet that brought out the best in the entire team.
Sarah Fiden's cap came off half-way into her 1000 free race. She fought for third place and came back to take the lead with 15 yards remaining. She won the 500 in 4:58.15.
"I have this feeling at the end that nobody's going to beat me. I have this urge that they don't have the right to beat me. I was pulling more towards getting points for the team. I was mad after my 1000 for my cap falling off, so I had to get recharged, go back and do it again," said Fiden.
Susan Woessner pulled out a first place finish in the 200 back. She finished in 2:03.25, .22 seconds ahead of Kentucky's Melissa Olson.
"We all got really up for the meet today," said Woessner. "The girl I was swimming next to had won two events already, I didn't want her to win again. I was just trying to take it out smooth and then come back hard on the last 50."
Tina Gretlund won the 200 fly in 2:03.02 and Jenn Cristy won the 100 free in a season best time of 51.12. The 400 medley team of Woessner, Geers, Gretlund, and Cristy took first in 3:50.71.
Erin Quinn led all divers by doubling wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Jennifer Sonneborn and Cassandra Cardinell followed in second and third on the 1-meter board.
Fiden Adds New Event as the Hoosiers Beat Illinois
Freshman Sarah Fiden added the 1000 freestyle to her resume against Illinois on October 28 helping the Hoosiers defeat the Fighting Illini.
Fiden's first stab at the 1000 free concluded in a victory over Illinois' Jen Peters by .22 seconds. Fiden swam the event in 10:09.73.
Fiden doubled up in the distance events by also competing in the 500 free. She finished second in 5:02.17.
The women's squad won 10 events to defeat the Illini 180.5-118.5. The 200 fly featured Jenny Bechem taking first in 2:06.80, Kristy Martin finishing second in 2:07.33, and Maggie Helmers holding on to third in 2:07.69. In the 500 free, Fiden, Erin Rice, and Meredith Stettner showed solid improvement from the Evansville meet. Jenn Cristy competed in and won four events. She anchored the winning 400 medley and claimed victory in the 50, 100, and 200 free.
Diving added its own excitement with Jennifer Sonneborn winning both the one-meter (282.52) and three-meter (313.27) boards and the Hoosiers consistently posting the top scores on both. Erin Quinn collected 307.20 points diving exhibition on the three-meter and 269.02 on the one-meter for third place.
Olympic Quality
Seniors Jenn Cristy and Amanda Noblet, juniors Sara Reiling and Susan Woessner, sophomore Anne Williams and freshman Sarah Fiden competed in the Olympic trials in Indianapolis in August.
Reiling qualified for the Olympic Games in the platform dive and finished 13th in Sydney. Cristy finished 20th in the 50 freestyle, 26th the 100 freestyle, and 56th in the 200 freestyle at the trials. Woessner finished 20th in the 100 backstroke while Noblet placed 22nd in the 200 backstroke. Williams finished 97th in the 100 freestyle. Fiden placed 60th in the 200 freestyle and 71st in the 400 freestyle.
